dinsdag 8 februari 2011

Safer Internet Day #SID11

It's more than a game, it's your life
Safer Internet Day is organised by Insafe each year in February to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially amongst children and young people across the world.

The topic for 2011 is "our virtual lives" around the slogan " It's more than a game, it's your life".
About virtual lives

The topic 'virtual lives' encompasses online gaming – from simple games to MMOGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) – and social networking, i.e. the two online activities most popular with Europe’s youth. As such, it will draw attention to all of them, and its key messages will encapsulate opportunities and protection against risks.

Some facts and figures

Gamers spend on average 8 hours weekly playng online.

Young people sleep 2 to 3 hours less per night than 10 years ago.

In January 2010, 18 million accounts were registered on Second Life.

Facebook reports more than 500 million active users.

Users spend 700 billion minutes on Facebook each month.

13 million players of World of Warcraft (WoW), the world's largest MMORPG.

Transactions and sales of virtual goods in virtual worlds were estimated at $18 billion in 2009.

Messages will address the risks young people run when they deliberately go virtual, for example through playing a MMOG as an avatar, as well as risks elicited when they project their real self onto virtual platforms, such as uploading a video on YouTube.

The focus will be on how the real self lives through the virtual experience. In an MMOG one is truly immersed in a fantasy world. Hiding behind an avatar, players can totally escape into the game. In a social network the line between virtual and real is not so clear. Using a pseudonym will not shield you from exposure to real life behaviors such as bullying, stealing, rejection, etc., and your actions in your virtual life can impact on your real life, meaning that your real self could be misrepresented everywhere and persistently.